The film was cut by DeMille for its 1944 rerelease, so it would conform to the Production Code. New footage with a World War II setting, featuring actor Stanley Ridges (who did not appear in the film originally) was added to make the film more topical. In the new prologue, a group of planes is seen flying over what was ancient Rome. The conversation of the soldiers in one of the planes leads directly into the film's original opening scene. The last few seconds of the edited version of the film showed the planes flying off into the distance, rather than simply fading out on the original closing scene of the movie.